Respected horseman Neville Henderson passed away last week after a battle with cancer at the age of 84.
Neville’s daughter Mandie said her father had struggled with his health over the past three years.
“He soldiered on and didn’t really let on how much pain he was in until he was only diagnosed a month ago,” Mandie said.
“He just loved the sport and being involved in the industry, and was lucky enough to have a few winners along the way.”
Neville combined his occupation as a concrete plant manager with working a small team of horses on the outskirts of Geelong.
Marcoll Chief provided Neville with his first winner when he scored at Warragul in 1983, driven by Keith Williams from whom Neville learned his craft.
Smokin Joker, whom he bred, gave Neville his biggest thrill in the sport at the time when he saluted at metropolitan level at Moonee Valley in 2009.
But it was Smokin Joker’s younger half-brother, the stout stayer Cyrus, which thrust Neville into the harness racing spotlight when he chalked up 16 wins from 99 race starts.
The ultra-consistent son of It Is I won four metropolitan class races and was placed in a further 14 races at that level.
Among Neville’s other winners were Black Cougar, Billy Rae, Billys Treasure and Black Indeed (now trained by Craig Demmler).
Neville is survived by his wife Dianne and children Kerrie, Mandie and Mark.
A memorial service for Neville will be held at the Leopold Sports Club on Friday, July 31 at 12.30pm.
Harness Racing Victoria chairman Bernard Saundry, on behalf of the entire industry, sends his sincere sympathy and condolences to Neville’s family and friends.
